Sunday I was all set to sit down and watch HBOs Treme. I got some boudin sausage out of the fridge, some chickory to add to my coffee, and just as Im about to Nawlins out, I notice this invite on Facebook to an informal jam at The Live Oak in Fort Worth. Boudin reheats well, and I have a DVR so I headed out to Fairmount.

The Sunday Night Neighborhood Jam is just getting started at the Live Oak, and it appears to already be dragging in some real talent. These kinds of jam sessions where local musicians try out new material, or just play for the fun of it, are priceless.

I got there in time to see someone doing a cover of the old Mickey Newbury tune Just Dropped In. Local rock icon Stephen Beatty (of Stella Rose fame) dropped in to run through some of the new songs hes going to doing with his new band Un Chien. Aside from Beatty, the band will feature Alex Zobel (Hanna Barbarians), Austin Green (Telegraph Canyon), and Danny Stone. The performance was great, as Ive come to expect from Beatty, and Im looking forward to seeing the whole bands premier show at Lolaspalooza on the 19th.

Up next we had a band called Big City Folk, with Hayden Siegel playing bass. The band features guitar, banjo and drums as well, but I didnt catch their names. They put on a good show, and Hayden is particularly animated; its the rare performer who can do the running man while playing bass.

Riyad Elmasri did a few solo songs as well, and I especially appreciated his cover of a Cadillac Fraf tune. Fraf was the quintessential Funkytown folk singer, and he suffered a severe head injury just over four years ago. Sadly, he passed away from his injuries in January 2009. Its always good to hear one of my old friends songs, especially done with the kind of spirit that Riyad puts into it. Fort Worth is a little too normal without Fraf.

Big City Folk played us out after Riyad finished, and I headed out into the cold night air to hang out with the cool kids who were smoking behind The Live Oak. I got a chance to talk about the venue to Blake Barker, a local musician and general manager of The Live Oak. The bar has quickly become one of the more popular destinations for music, and now they are getting a more pub-grub style menu. With the new menu, food will be available in the concert hall and on the roof as well as the dining room. This place just gets better every time I go there.

To round out the night and get my much-anticipated taste of the Big Easy, I headed over to KTCUs studio, and got there just in time to catch the last song from The Pothole Brass Band out of New Orleans. They were in DFW to play the House of Blues, and they were at KTCU doing a live performance for the new jazz show on KTCU, the Sunday Night Second Line. These guys are all Marines as well as brass players, and to give things a nice twist they did a funked up version of The Planets, by Holst. Semper Fi, and laissez les bons temps rouler.

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